walk it off, walk it off

no, not a pregnancy announcement! just a throwback photo. :)

There's nothing that puts a smile on my face quite as much as watching a pregnant mama and her husband walking together. This happens pretty frequently in our neighborhood - we live in an area with great schools and pretty modest houses, so there are lots of new families always moving in and lots of kids around (which we absolutely love!). In the last few weeks of cooler temps, I've seen to-be moms and dads aplenty around here, enjoying an evening walk together.

Every time I see one of those couples walking down our block, I'm so reminded of all the millions of walks David and I took during my pregnancy with Kate. It's really one of the things I miss most about being pregnant - I felt vindicated each time I took a walk, because let's be honest, I didn't do a lot of other movement during pregnancy. (Hopefully that won't be true for future pregnancies.)

It's the "stereotypical" thing to do but really was always my favorite part of every day. We got to know our neighborhood during those walks - the older couples waving hi, the houses and yards we admired, the different ways people decorated for the seasons. Most of our walks consisted of us debating on baby names or talking about the future with our baby, with lots of healthy arguments thrown into the mix.

I like to think those walks introduced Kate to her place in the world, and her place in our world. She maybe wasn't as aware of everything as we were, but she was always calm and stopped kicking when we'd set out.

I really treasured those times with just us 3, and it was definitely easier toting her along inside rather than in a stroller or carrying her like nowadays. I think those walks will always stay some of my most treasured memories of pregnancy - the calmness of ending each day with a walk, watching the sunset, holding the belly up when I grew tired.

If we're blessed with baby #2 some day in the future, I'm already looking forward to the pregnancy walks that will happen. They might not be as calm with a toddler in tow, but they'll have some of the same effects - introducing him or her to the world they'll be a part of, whether or not they realize it.
HG